Russia has successfully thwarted an attack by 20 Ukrainian drones on Moscow-annexed Crimea, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Out of the 20 drones, 14 were shot down by Russian air defenses, and the remaining six were electronically jammed. No casualties or damage were reported, and Ukrainian officials have neither confirmed nor denied their involvement in the attacks.
Videos circulating on Russian social media show smoke rising above a bridge connecting Russia to Crimea. The Moscow-appointed governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, reported that Russian air defense also prevented an attack on the bridge by shooting down two Ukrainian missiles. The bridge remained undamaged, but traffic was briefly halted. Russian authorities condemned the attempted attack.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and the bridge connecting the two carries significant importance for Moscow. It serves as a key artery for military and civilian supplies and is seen as a symbol of Kremlin control over the peninsula.
Recent weeks have witnessed an increase in drone attacks on Moscow and Crimea. These attacks aim to unsettle Russians and highlight the consequences of the ongoing conflict.
Meanwhile, Russia claimed to have regained control of the village of Urozhaine in Ukraine’s Luhansk region through a counterattack. In separate incidents, a 73-year-old woman was killed in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, and a police officer was killed with 12 others wounded by a guided Russian aerial bomb in the city of Orikhiv in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region.
Explosions were reported in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, but no casualties were reported. Odesa, a strategic port and key hub for exporting grain, opened several beaches for the first time since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. However, accessing beaches during air raid alerts remains forbidden due to missile and drone attacks.
